Oh Sh#7! Eddie Current Studio B

@rhythmdevils and I live in the same town. My AC is typically 123-4V. DC offset is also an issue, I use an Emotiva CMX-2 to reduce transformer hum in my Holo gear.

 

Yeah I forgot to say in my response that my SB’s PSU buzzes while being fed by a circuit that’s shooting out about 123VAC pretty regularly when I measure with a cheap MM. Just the way it goes living in an ancient (for CA) coastal building in a “historic district.” I’ve got DC offset too but haven’t ventured to solutions, nothing’s buzzed enough to bug me.

 

Much of the power distribution (and last-mile data distribution) in coastal CA is "historic" in the bad sense of the word.

 

Yep, it's pretty atrocious. Cloth insulation wiring, two circuits total per apartment for all the apartments in my building, extremely questionable "grounding," etc.

 

I had an electrician come and do as much testing of my power as possible, the voltage is correct and there's no DC in the line. I had all the power in my room redone like 10 years ago with every outlet being a separate dedicated line, I do have some kind of power issue though that I can't figure out, some kind of ground loop. And the electrician didn't even know what a ground loop was (and neither do I quite frankly)

But other amps don't have transformer hum. I think it might be when the amp is first turned on I'm not sure. I've had it off since the 300b tubes got so noisy it's unlistenable. I'm hoping WE will send me new tubes asap.

I'll post more when I get new tubes and get to listen to it more.

 

@rhythmdevils have you tried another tube on the power supply? or check the umbilical cable (reverse it? "shield" it?). Might not have any effect, but probably worth a try.

 

Since I’ve been paying attention, two different houses in the area, > 120V is what I always see.

 

^My Furman rack mount tells me I get 123V+ not too far from you guys.

 

Which UPS do you use? I think I need to try this. I have a preamp that hums. I've tried multiple solutions to no avail.

 

For those that run the WEs on their Studio B, do you get that shimmering sound on start up? On the ACMEs it was very present, on the WE nothing. Just the usual pings.

And side notes, i think the ACMEs had tighter, more solid and slammy bass, but i think the EC really needs the midrange of the WEs. The ACMEs felt cool and flat in comparison.

 

WEs definitely require burn in imo. Bass was fairly flabby and too rounded for my tastes ootb. Tightened up quite a bit after maybe 100 hours for me, but still fairly rounded compared to my EML mesh. Looking forward to hitting the WE recommended 500 hour mark in the next 5-6 weeks. Content for now anyway. Very nice and complementary 300Bs imo, and both have what appears to be the longest life expectancies as well at this point.

 

The bass tighened up, no flabby or loose qualitys after 500 hours burn in. I really hit them hard with techno stuff.

 

For the shimmering i meant that noise it makes on power on, and not an audio trait while listening, just to be clear.

I am looking forward to these burning in a bit. They were used in a vinnie rossi preamp so a few hundred very light hours. I would like to see how they change with a more demanding work ethic. These with a nos Mullard gz34 should have a solid bass in the end.

Im thinking the GE tube may be the "weak" link, but ill give it all time. Amp, tubes, cables all settling in. Also the WE options are not cheap, and the finding a Bendix is like catching a ghost.

 

For those on a budget, these Linlai "Cossor" WE300B's I picked up are indeed much better than the other two 300B's I've tried in the Studio B so far (Shuguang 300B-98's, Genalex Gold Lion PX300B's). Really beautiful, resonant tonality. Mid range really excels vs. the other two tubes -- Shuguangs were a little sucked out and/or thin in that regard, whereas the Gold Lions were more fleshed out but the whole FR felt muddy, congested, and harsh in comparison to either the Shuguangs or these Linali's.

I've got a Mullard Fat Base GZ34/5AR4 on the way per @Souldriver's endorsement, I think a 1961 date code. Not expecting miracles or anything, but I'm looking forward to be able to step away from tube nervosa for a bit and just enjoy the amp. The good news is that the SB is competent enough that Marv is right - at least with 300B's, you don't need to spend a lot for good sound, IME. It's not a huge delta.

 

Otoh, why bottleneck the sonics on a $3500 end game amp?

I started with cheap EH 300Bs, but the EMLs were a big step up. And the WE's another step up in many ways from the EMLs, but not all. Not to mention the longevity factor, which is often ignored in 300B discussions. If the WE and EMLs both last 20-40k hours, especially in an amp that doesn't drive em hard, then they could be considered bargain tubes. Bargain tubes with better sonics even.

 

I get that perspective, sure. I just plain can't afford to spend 1/3 of the price of the amp on tubes, a month after buying the amp. It does say something to me that Marv, yotacowboy et. al have not written off $1400 tubes as ORFAS nonsense, though, yeah.

My compromise then becomes throwing ~$580 at some knockoff Chinese WE300B's that have fairly favorable comparisons to the new issues from a handful of reviews here and elsewhere, keeping in mind that last 15 to 20% or whatever of refinement won't be available to me until I pony up. And/or I take solace in knowing Craig designs his OPT's to sound good with most tubes/he himself reportedly just uses whatever he has lying around/etc. -- just have to kind of pick a perspective so I can listen to music instead of obsessing over toobs, for now.

 

Hey think of it as the 'buy a Vali and save for a big boy tube amp' concept. Buy an EC amp with EH/JJ etc and save up for 20k 1939 WEs kek!

But yeah, the SB still sounds great with any working tubes.